Living the dream

 Imagine us. International Jetsetters! How in the world did Heavenly Father construct this ideal mission for us? It's always been a dream of ours to travel to different cultures and meet people from different lands but the reality is we are humble folk more accustomed to buckets than bucket lists. Our minds are dazzled and swirling from the whirlwind of travel we've experienced these last 10 days. Buckle up your belts now and put your seats in their safe, upright position because we are whisking you away with us on the next leg of our adwenture! We've already taken you from India to Bangkok. Next stop- Jakarta! 

             The view of Jakarta from our hotel

We were met at the airport by our insta-friends, TWO senior couples who took us under their protective wings for two days -- The Lallatins and the Levesques. What a treat to be with senior peers who share a love of missionary life!

                           Life in La-Le Land

They asked us where we wanted to go out to eat for our first night in Indonesia. We told them it's been a year since we've had a steak, and absence had made our heart grow fond for something beefy. The Holy Rib restaurant definitely fit the bill. We devoured our steak and rib dinners with the gusto of two carnivores! The irony of our sheer gluttony was not lost on us because it happened to coincide with the start of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims. During dinner, there was Middle Eastern-flavored music wafting through the mall that I was most eager to check out. 

I could've stayed much longer to listen but there were games to be played and ice cream to consume back at their apartment before this triple-date party was over. We played Scum of the Earth and a new card game for us called "Dang it, Nancy" which elicited much hilarity and  conviviality. Conveniently, our hotel and their apartments were right next to each other with identical floorplans. They were unfortunately missing out on the amazing breakfast buffet and chocolate lobby display that we had. 

The significance of two men and a barrel sculpted in chocolate was lost on us but it sure smelled good anyway! (Rob chimed in and thinks this is a drum. That makes more sense.) Sunday morning we did not fast with the Muslims but took full advantage of the new Indo-cuisine breakfast buffet we'd never tried or tasted before. Some of it looked a little frightening so I asked one of the buffet employees to explain it all to us. Rizky gave us a complete overview in excellent English. We called him over afterwards to our table to tell him how much we enjoyed the satay and other offerings he suggested and got him talking about his own life. His parents are divorced, Dad is Muslim, Mom is Christian and he has sided with his mother's faith and currently attends a Christian church. Knowing we aren't supposed to approach Muslims about our message, we felt we could say a few things to Rizky of why we were there. He was very interested and curious so we told him we were off to church but would bring him back a book of scripture he could read. I wish I had taken a photo of him but he was on duty and it just didn't feel like the right time. We did drop the book off to him afterwards and told him we'd check back in a month when we had our permanent visas to talk more. 

Church was simply AMAZING at the Jakarta English-speaking ward and we were immediately enveloped in the familiar joy of the Spirit. Our gospel doctrine teacher was a sharp young man from the Philippines, a returned missionary who had served in Indonesia. There were a few American embassy families in the mix.

               I sat by Rebecca from Taiwan

The sacrament prayers were given in Farsi and English by Amin from Iran. One of the Sacrament meeting talks was given by Esther, a young woman from The Congo. They are refugees but had found and accepted the restored gospel, not sure if in The Congo or in Indonesia. This picture is of her mother and her brother named Grace.

And then after the meeting was over, Alley met Ali from Afghanistan. 

Can you believe what cultural diversity under one roof? And yet our hearts were completely knitted together and unified in our love for, and faith in Jesus Christ. For me, Zion had already begun right then and there in the Jakarta English-speaking ward. We started forming friendships with all these good people with the promise we'd be back in a month to pick up where we left off. Another sleepless night followed as we anticipated our 2:00 am wake up alarm and flight that took us away from our brief but wonderful introduction to our new mission in Indonesia. 

Next stop-Bali!

                Sunrise in Bali just about to break

                           Whaaaat is that???

Technically, this was only an airport pitstop but it did require an outdoor stroll from the domestic terminal to the international terminal so we can honestly say we set foot in Bali. The song that greeted us over the loudspeaker as we disembarked was "How Sweet it Is" by James Taylor. For one moment, it almost felt like we were back in America except the pervasive garb seen everywhere here is women, not in a full length hijab, but with a head scarf coupled with western style clothes. An East Meets West accommodation of sorts.  

Our Final Stop- Timor Leste!

The quaint airport, the kind where they wheel the steps to the plane and then you walk onto the tarmac and into the terminal was our first clue we were not in 1st World territory.

Only 3 flights a day come to TL, arriving from Bali, Singapore, and Darwin, Australia.

You sure this isn't a Pizza Hut?

Another wonderful senior couple, the Snows, were there to greet us and drive us in the mission car to our new digs. We were not expecting the completely charming apartment located two blocks up from the ocean...

the pretty plant-lined path to our front door... (see our daily maid Mary in the window? Laundry service is included too)

 nor the vaulted ceilings... (even the bathrooms feel like we're in a cathedral!)

                   wait a minute, and a pool too? 

The Snows treated us on our first night to a dinner on the beach with Branch President Uber (pronounced Yuber, in this case) and his two young children. His wife works for USAid and was out of town on business.

More insta-friends 

With the soft lapping of the waves and the sun setting on the water, it was so peaceful and lovely, surely this was more like a vacation than a mission! And the wonderment still continues. Each morning we've gone out on a walk to discover what we can about Timor Leste. 

       The culture seems to be a unique mix of

Pacific Island/Portuguese/Indonesian influences

Of course being next to the Timor Sea, they eat a lot of fish here. Even the butter has a slight fishy flavor to it. Maybe the cows here eat fish too. 

     Elder Aquarius, born in the sign of Water,

                loves being so near to it.

 The morning catch

                            Their net gain

               What's on his bucket list today? 

                  Their Beachfront property

                           Their crafty rafts

We so admire their resourcefulness! They've found an ingenious use for old tires too

           Beachside dining tables and chairs

                      Dunlaps on Dunlops

Every day, we are greeted with friendly "Buon Dias", smiles, and waves from the natives wherever we go. One day we met two Caucasian ladies waiting for a super mercado to open. One was from Hungary, here as a teacher, the other was a Bohemian traveler from New Zealand. Linda had been to 8 ATMs already that morning and none had money in them. When the store opened, its ATM was also empty. She was distraught because she had no money to pay her hotel bill. So we offered to drive her to a bank with our mission car. Rob had not, as yet attempted to drive in this traffic that we would call "India-lite", not nearly as heavy and much much quieter! But he navigated just great, like the professional driver he is. She was very grateful and we made a new friend in the process. 

Two things make Timor Leste not quite so Edenesque. The mosquitos are much like their Indian cousins, those naughty, stealthy, welt producing night predators. We had no room in our suitcases to bring along our mosquito netting so here we go again! Coimbatore revisited. And secondly- the prices here. Yow!! NOTHING is cheap here. Practically everything is imported. We've seen $15.00 sticker prices on plastic pitchers. $4.00 for two plastic hangers. It's killing me and it must kill them too. But perhaps this too is a tailor-made situation to make me confront my money phobias and get over them, trusting that the Lord will provide sufficient for our needs. It's all part of my personalized plan the Lord has for me.

And the very best part of this 3 week gig?  We get to teach English to Young Adults again! Oh, we are so enamored with them already. They are so bright and pure and happy. They have unique names like Erko, Memo, Rio, Uzo, and Auxiliadora. They love that we pray to begin and close our classes and join in with their traditional Catholic prayers. We're offering a free 12 week English course and the maximum space of 30 filled right up with university students. For the few weeks we are here, its just unofficial Conversational English which is suited to us. Just with the power of friendliness, they are already asking questions and are curious about us and why we're here and linger longer after class to talk. "What is your church? We've heard never of it" Haven't we recently been learning in Isaiah about Israel being gathered in from the isles of the sea? I prophecy that the Timor Leste branch with its twenty-six members that was just newly formed in January 2024 is on the cusp of huge expansion. I only wish we could stay longer and see the miracles happen! 

"Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea...?

2 Nephi 29:4

The Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among they that are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea nevertheless, after they shall be nursed by the Gentiles... it is likened unto their being nourished and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.

1 Nephi 22: excerpts from 4, 6, 8